Dublin, Feb 27 (IANS): Ireland has the second highest rate of household access to the internet in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU27), according to the latest figures released by the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In 2021, 97 per cent of households in Ireland had access to the internet and this was the second highest rate alongside Finland in the EU27, said the CSO in a report titled "Measuring Ireland's Progress 2020".

Luxembourg and the Netherlands had the highest rate in the EU27 with household internet access rate in the two countries each reaching 99 per cent, said the report quoting Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bulgaria had the lowest rate in the EU27, with only 84 per cent of households in the country having access to the internet, it said.

The percentage of households in Ireland with access to the internet increased from 88 per cent in 2017 to 97 per cent in 2021, said the report.

In 2021, the average household internet access rate in the EU27 was 92 per cent, it added.